By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Michael Geist[Edit][Delete]: Canadian Documentary Film Makers Speak Out on Copyright, [Edit][Delete] December 6, 2006
Harold Jarche and Michael Geist report on a letter submitted by Canada's documentary film makers (if you are not from Canada, then you should know that documentaries are the major type of film made in Canada). "The letter notes the growing concern with the effect of copyright on documentary film makers, citing the survey results which found that 85 percent of film makers find copyright more harmful than beneficial and 82 percent find that the law is more likely to discourage them from making new films." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Press Release[Edit][Delete]: New Copyright Laws Risk Criminalising Everyday Australians, Internet Industry Association [Edit][Delete] November 29, 2006
Opposition to the proposed new copyright legislation in Australia continues to mount. "A family who holds a birthday picnic in a place of public entertainment (for example, the grounds of a zoo) and sings 'Happy Birthday' in a manner that can be heard by others, risks an infringement notice carrying a fine of up to $1320." Via TALO, a lengthy list of submissions to the government (so at least they can't say "we had no way of knowing") and a series of risk assessments from the Internet Industry Association. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Jennifer Granick[Edit][Delete]: Second Life Will Save Copyright, Wired News [Edit][Delete]Wired news [Edit][Delete] November 24, 2006
Second Life does the wrong thing, and declares Copybot to be a violation of its terms of service (now there's some creative reading). This Wired article praises the company's attempts to create a user-created copyright realm. Without 'enforcement' by Second Life, however, such attempts are polite fictions. The people in Second Life will learn - copyrights are government interventions in the marketplace intended to favour the publishers. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Professors Get 'F' in Copyright Protection Knowledge, Seattle Post-Intelligencer [Edit][Delete] November 24, 2006
A very one-sided article that signifies its bias in the first sentence. The article, quoting industry sources, attacks the professors' posting of chapters of books online under fair use provisions. "It [the doctrine of fair use] can be interpreted differently by different courts under the same circumstances." Well, yes. But the main thing is: "'"We can't compete with free,' says Allan Adler, vice president for legal and governmental affairs with the Washington-based publishers group, whose members include McGraw-Hill Cos. and Pearson Plc." So what the publishers are doing is signing agreements with universities - this story cites a precedent-setting agreement with Cornell - to prevent professors from posting chapters online. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ben Winograd and Cheryl Lu-Lien[Edit][Delete]: Can Fashion be Copyrighted? The Debate Over Knock-offs, Wall Street Journal [Edit][Delete] October 11, 2006
They've done it to music and publishing, why not fashion? I'm not a fashionista but even I know that if they make knock-offs illegal that will be the end of the fashion industry. But that seems to be where the U.S. copyright industry is now headed. Carmen Marc valvo perhaps says it best: "Fashion is more evolutionary than revolutionary -- you're always inspired by something else. Besides, I don't think anyone copying me would be able to do it the same way". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Greg Sandoval[Edit][Delete]: RIAA Copyright Education Contradictory, Critics Say, CNet News.Com [Edit][Delete]CNET News.com [Edit][Delete]CNet News.com [Edit][Delete]CNet news.Com [Edit][Delete] August 31, 2006
I like the way this one starts: "The music industry's educational video about copyright law is full of baloney, according to several trade and public interest groups." The point of the article is to highlight contradictions in the RIAA's campaign, which is essentially to make people think it's always wrong and illegal to download or copy a song. The problem is, this sentence is false, even you agree with the law as it is written. The RIAA declarations do not take into account personal use, educational use, and fair use. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Weird Al Yankovic[Edit][Delete]: Don't Download This Song, August 24, 2006
I rode on a pirate ship today, on my short trip to Halifax, and if I were in Sweden I would be voting for the Pirate Party. So in the spirit of Weird Al, today's newsletter is dedicated to all you pirates out there, swapping software and burning CDs, keeping the information commons strong and keeping the engine of the knowledge economy running. And, my friends - don't download that song. check your hard drive first to see if it's already there. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Marc Meola[Edit][Delete]: Collaboration, Copyright, and Reclusive Math Geniuses, ACRLog [Edit][Delete] August 23, 2006

I am not a reclusive math genius, but I share some of their properties: "Perelman did not feel the need or obligation to participate in the traditional peer-review process, believing instead that anyone who wanted to look at his work could do so. For whatever reason, Perelman has decided to opt out of most of the social rituals of his profession, yet open access publishing has enabled him to at least share his work with the world." I think this is an important point. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Press Release[Edit][Delete]: Statement Regarding Captain Copyright, Access Copyright [Edit][Delete] August 16, 2006
Today's issue has several of the longer posts I have been writing recently. This is unusual, but I do plan to occasionally include the longer posts. It would be useful to receive feedback on this - do people prefer the 100 word items exclusively, or is it preferable to get as much as 500 words on an item from time to time?
This item is a statement on the revisions proposed for the 'Captain Copyright' comic, an effort that was widely (and justly) criticized. The authors also say they were "saddened by the misconceptions" regardingb their linking policy (despite what the policy actually said). As for me, well, I am wondering whether they have permission to use the 'Canada' logo at the bottom of the page. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Cory Doctorow[Edit][Delete]: Copyrighted Fabric: No Selling the Stuff You Make From It, Boing Boing [Edit][Delete] October 27, 2006
Another example of the sorry state our society is finding itself in, as anything and everything must be monitized. It is worth noting that the blog post caused the company to reword their requirement into a request. Related: Interviews with students on copyright. "Education efforts are seen as phony and unconvincing, lawsuits as unlikely, and even college-supplied access to legal music services may perpetuate a view of media as free, offering little educational value". More...